Book Two, Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Mari Lwyd. The name seemed to echo ominously through the Elder Stables. Even Lena, usually so stoic and unflappable, paled visibly when she heard it.

“You’re kidding,” Lucas whispered. Justin glanced over, and was surprised to see a look of true fear on his friend’s face.

“No,” Blitzen said sharply. “Unlike some deer in this room, we know that there are things that should never be joked about.”

“I’m afraid there’s no room for doubt,” said Vixen. “Mari Lwyd has been sighted in the human world for the first time in over three hundred years.”

Justin held up his hands. “Wait, hold on a second! Who is this…Mary Lewd person?”

“Mari Lwyd,” Lena corrected him, her voice soft. “She’s one of Krampus’ servants.”

“And a really, really bad one,” Willow added.

Dasher held out his hand, and a small ball of light leaped out of it. It expanded before their eyes, becoming…

Justin knew it wasn’t real, but he still couldn’t help but take a step back when he saw it.

A horse’s skull floated in front of him, bleached white as if it had been lying untouched in the desert for decades. A pair of black anti-lights glowed within its eye sockets, and a pillar of black, roiling smoke stretched from its neck to the ground, almost like a wedding gown made of pure darkness.

“Mari Lwyd is not merely one of Krampus’ servants,” Dasher said, the disgust practically dripping from his voice. “She is his own shadow given physical form and the power to roam the Earth, leaving sorrow and bloodshed in her wake. She appears without warning, latching onto people seemingly at random. She will knock on their front door and sing a song asking to be let in. The victim must then sing back to her in perfect rhyme, demanding that she leave them alone. If they fail…”

Dasher’s voice trailed off, and the ancient reindeer looked like he was about to be sick.

“She will eat their heart,” Dancer finished for him.

“Every heart she consumes makes her stronger,” Comet added.

“Strength,” said Donner, “that is passed directly to Krampus.”

Justin’s eyes widened, and a horrible chill went down his spine.

“I can see you understand the gravity of the situation,” Vixen said darkly. “You hurt him quite badly last year, Justin. Worse than he has been hurt in centuries. It’s likely that he is still recovering.”

“He can’t leave Mantombra except on Christmas Eve night,” Cupid said. “But the same isn’t true for his minions. Mari Lwyd is free to come and go, and because of her connection to Krampus, every ounce of power she consumes will go straight to him.”

“Our guess is that he has unleashed Mari Lwyd in order to collect the power he needs to make a full recovery before December Twenty Fourth,” said Prancer.

“I hope I don’t need to say,” Dasher put in, his voice grave, “that it would be preferable for all of us if that did not happen.”

“Wait, hold on!” Lucas blurted out, his eyes going wide. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Dasher nodded. “Just as Krampus can not leave Mantombra, Santa can not leave Laetitia until Christmas Eve. But Krampus is not the only one who can send his followers out into the world to do his bidding.”

Justin cocked his head. What were they…

Oh.

Oh no.

“Justin. Lena. Lucas. Willow.” Dasher raised a hand to point at them each in turn. “You are tasked with going forth into the world outside of Val Luminara and stopping Mari Lwyd!”

Silence fell over the Elder Stables.

“Wait, hold on a second,” Lucas finally said, stepping forward and waving his hands. “Let me make sure I’ve got this straight.”

“Very well,” Dasher said with a nod.

“You want us to go through the portal to Earth.”

“Yes.”

“And you want us to fight Mari Lwyd, one of the most evil and dangerous…things on the planet.”

“Yes.”

“And you want us to do this,” Lucas said, boggle eyed, “alone?”

“No.”

Justin blinked and looked at the one who had spoken.

“You will not be alone,” Vixen said, sitting up straight in her chair. “While you four are certainly skilled, this is a challenge too great for you to face on your own. I will be going with you.”

Justin felt the anxious knot in his stomach untie itself slightly, and Lucas relaxed the slightest bit. Even Lena breathed out a quiet sigh of relief, though she quickly looked away when Justin glanced at her. The only who seemed unmoved was Willow, who stood with her hands clasped patiently behind her back and a steely look in her eyes.

She’s like a mountain in a storm, Justin thought, his heart skipping a beat. She could look Krampus right in the eye and tell him to shove a lump of coal up his—

“I still don’t agree with this decision,” Donner broke in. “Vixen, if you’re doing this because you feel like you need to prove that you’re still capable after what happened last Christmas, then there’s no need! None of us respect you any less—”

“If I don’t need to prove that I’m still capable,” Vixen said stiffly, “then surely you must agree that I’m capable of going on this mission.”

Donner clenched his jaw, obviously holding back a few choice words, but then sighed and shook his head.

“Vixen is the ideal candidate, since she is flight leader for all three of the chosen reindeer,” Dasher said firmly, overriding any further complaints. “She knows their strengths and weaknesses better than anyone other than their own Riders. Regardless of whether she, herself, can walk or fly, nobody will be able to issue orders to them more swiftly or confidently than she can.”

The old buck’s words were warm, his expression reassuring, but Justin couldn’t help but notice the way Vixen’s ears drooped ever so slightly. His heart sank into his stomach. He had only discovered the joys of flight a year ago, but he already couldn’t imagine life without it. To have lived your life in the skies over hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years, only to have it ripped away from you in a single, wicked second…he couldn’t begin to think how Vixen must feel, not only unable to take to the air like a reindeer should, but unable to stand, run, or even walk.

She’s not just coming for our benefit, he realized with a lurch. She’s coming for her own benefit. Donner says she doesn’t have to prove herself, but he’s wrong.

She has to prove herself to herself.

“That’s a relief, I suppose,” Lucas said, his nonchalant attitude not able to fully hide the unease in his voice. “You have a plan for what we’re going to do when we find Mari Lwyd, then…right?”

“This isn’t the first time that creature and I have sought each other out,” the old doe reassured him, her voice grim.

“Which is another reason she was chosen for this mission,” Dasher added. “Vixen and Mari Lwyd have a certain…bond…that none of the other members of the council do.”

Justin’s ears perked up at that, but nobody offered any sort of explanation.

“Before we can even think of eliminating her, though, we have to find her,” Vixen said.

“Christmas is less than a month away, and we have no idea how close Krampus is to regaining his full strength,” Dancer agreed. “There is no time to lose.”

Vixen nodded decisively. “We will leave for Earth today, and go to Mari Lwyd’s last known location.”

“Unfortunately, we have no proof that she will attack twice in the same place,” said Blitzen. “But in the event that another attack takes place elsewhere, we will send word immediately.”

Justin opened his mouth to say that this didn’t sound like a very good plan. If Mari Lwyd didn’t stay in one place, then that could easily lead to them chasing her all over the country—maybe even the world—always heading for where she had been and never where she was. But he stopped himself. The mood in here was grim enough already. They didn’t need him making things worse by complaining about a problem he had no solution to.

“Lucas, Willow, retrieve your Riders and inform them of the situation,” Vixen said, her voice ringing with authority. Justin reflexively snapped to attention. Crippled as she may have been, Vixen was still his flight leader, and always would be. “We will leave in one hour! Are there any questions?”

Justin, Lena, Lucas, and Willow all snapped the old doe a salute. “No, ma’am!”

Vixen pointed. “Then go! Christmas, Santa, and the lights of every child on Earth are depending on us!”